markmcc

I'm the writer of the Wired piece discussed a little bit above -- would like to just respond to a couple of things: You'll note that I didn't write "imploding." I wrote "waning." Which I think is the case -- you can argue the point, but please don't put words in my mouth. elBulli as a non-profit foundation and creativity workshop is pretty clearly not the same thing as elBulli, the top restaurant in the world. Again, I don't claim that it's closing for a lack of popularity. And I'm very familiar with the popularity and outlook of Alinea, as I wrote a chapter of the Alinea book. Talking to Grant about this, he's of the opinion that "It’s clear that the tide is turning. I don’t think many chefs will continue to take the wholehearted scientific approach.” I happen to agree. I totally agree, which is actually the point of the two paragraphs in question -- that modernist techniques are moving beyond being an avant-garde, artistic movement, and simply becoming part of any educated chefs toolkit. And Modernist Cuisine, the book, will be a huge driver in making that happen.

Hey all: Thanks for posting the link to the story that I wrote in Wired. ChefG was gracious enough to give me a chance to spend a couple of days and evenings in the kitchen, and there's a lot that didn't make it into the story. I'm happy to answer any questions that anyone might have about the story, or other things that I saw at Alinea. And happy anniversary to everyone at Alinea! Mark McClusky

Sweet to the right, savory to the left. Mark